Tuesday Ten: 015: The Ghosts Of Infest Past

We are finally in the week preceding Infest, so it is perhaps only right for an Infest-based Tuesday Ten. Not just ten artists, though – this is something of a ramble of the good and the bad from my seven Infests so far – I haven’t mentioned all of the bands over that time, but I’ve made a good attempt at mentioning as many as possible. Other recollections or corrections, etc etc, would be cool…

Shocks and Surprises: There are always one or two bands that I may not have heard of, and heard anything by, at each Infest – and sometimes they are bands that I may really get into following hearing them live. The Azoic were one such band, with a performance of infectious electro-EBM that caught the imagination of the crowd, and their friendly banter with the crowd didn’t hurt, either. Tin Omen certainly surprised me: a small goth-industrial band from the UK who had the tunes and a confident stage presence without being too flashy.

Notable Noise: Not all live performances from noise artists are just “one man and a laptop” – sometimes there are two of them 😉 But seriously, some of the noise acts at Infest over the years have been truly fascinating. Scrap.edx stunned everybody with their high-up-the-bill appearance in ’03, with a storming set that finished with the odd, sped-up soul samples that close The Fruitless Search For Personal Utopia, while Proyecto Mirage seemingly attempted to destroy the venue by beats and an energy that bounced off the walls. Oh, and then there was the curiosity of H.I.V.+ and their semi-naked stageshow, and the great fun of pow[d]erpussy and their sample-filled techno-noise…

“There has always been a hip-hop influence in our work”: from Je$us Loves Amerika‘s furious cover of Fuck tha police and Hypnoskull using gangsta rap samples (both back in ’03), to Stromkern‘s amazing fusion of industrial and hip-hop that very nearly stole the show last year.

Not everything is all serious: Most of it is, yes, but not all. Star Pilots on Channel K (better known as S.P.O.C.K.) provided an hour of great fun when they replaced Neuroticfish at very short notice back in ’02 – Never Trust A Klingon probably says all you need to know. Welle:erdball the same year provided beach balls, dancing girls in 50s-style outfits and music from Commodore computers, while Blutengel‘s vampire horror in ’05 was perhaps unintentionally funny…

Cover versions: This brings out the good, the bad, and the plain ugly. Firmly in the good were Icon Of Coil‘s closing Headhunter all the way back in ’01 (that long ago?!?), and VNV Nation‘s closing Getting Closer that finished the festival in ’03, as well as Autoclav 1.1‘s fun take on Theme From S-Express last year. The bad includes Decoded Feedback‘s version of Swans‘ Love Will Save You – although to be fair Swans aren’t the easiest band to cover. The ugly most certainly includes Reaper‘s dreadfully messy attempt at Suicide Commando‘s Cause of Death: Suicide, one of the most misguided attempts at a cover I have ever heard (and I’ve had the misfortune of hearing it live a second time, too, and it didn’t get any better then).

“You’re a bit scary, you are…”: Roland from Needle Sharing in ’03 scared the living daylights out of us all when he started dancing very close to the front of the stage, with a freaky look in his eyes and gesturing for us all to dance. We did. Erica from Unter Null‘s sheer presence and live spectacle also made us shrink back a little, too, while Leechwoman‘s sonic assault back in ’01 reminded many that earplugs can be useful – even if you like that kind of thing.

“oh dear…”: Not all sets come of well live. Even bands that sound brilliant on record are not immune, and perhaps the most obvious example of this was Seabound in ’03, for whom everything just seemed wrong. Neither of the band seemed particularly interested, vocals were missed, the sound was wrong, and it was all a bit sad to watch. A damned shame, as they have never put a foot wrong on record. Also not very good were Resurrection Eve‘s turgid goth (and purple PVC=bad) in ’03, and Schmoof‘s caterwauling synth”pop” last year (again, purple PVC=bad). And while Suicide Commando were a bit crap back in ’01 (Johan doing all the vocals and keyboards himself, to a sparse crowd way too early in the day), they more than made up for it with a storming set headlining in ’04.

“…this is how it’s done”:Converter: wherein most of the UK’s noise artists were all present in the audience, and likely taking notes from a master at work, Fixmer/McCarthy: where most people turned up to hear Doug McCarthy storm through a few old Nitzer Ebb tracks as well as his new project, and Front Line Assembly: where we were taken back years to the glory days of early-90s industrial in one of the best live performances ever seen at Infest.

“did you see that…?”: There is often a talking point or two each year. One year that seemed to be full of them was ’05, and in particular Covenant and kiEw. Convenant I had seen once before (back in ’01), but this time they were in particularly fighting form, had a packed crowd and when Call The Ships To Port kicked in, the whole dancefloor simply exploded into life. kiEw’s bizarre performance art during their high-quality noise set (including guitars, straitjackets, wierd lighting and all manner of other things) did a classic job of dividing everyone – you either loved it or hated it.

“…umm, no, I didn’t”: I always end up missing something at Infest, for one reason or another. It might be the fact that I am deep in conversation with friends I’ve not seen for ages, before realising I’m missing the most keenly awaited act of the festival, or a chance to snack on some tasty nosh while a less-good band finish up. Or it could be, we ended up getting drunk. So what has this caused me to miss over time? Well, I missed most of God Module in ’03 (I have no idea why), the idea of another few drinks (and a fire alarm) was far more enticing that watching the dreary Lights of Euphoria in ’04, and doing anything else was better than watching Goteki way back in ’01. One big mistake was missing Architect last year, particularly when I found out he had played some Haujobb stuff…

In addition, back at my very first Infest in ’00, I had to leave early on the Sunday night, thus missing most of In Strict Confidence. Ooops – a good thing I have had the chance to see them since, I can tell you…